VISTA MAKES SKATEPARKS A PRIORITY
CITY MAKES SKATE PARKS A PRIORITY

Council members say at workshop that building facilities should be among top goals over the next two years

Residents who have been asking Vista to replace a public skate park that was demolished six years ago when the city built its Civic Center may finally see some action this year.

Last month, the City Council unanimously voted to take a closer look at two city-owned parcels as possible sites for future skate parks. Council members also said during a goal-setting workshop Tuesday that building the skate parks should be one of the city’s top priorities over the next two years.

Jack Flaherty, president of the Vista Skatepark Coalition, a group pressing the city to build skate parks, said he was excited about the council’s action.

“It’s really huge,” Flaherty said. “That’s what we’ve been after for a long time.”

Skateboarders in Vista have been without a public skate park since August 2008, when the city’s only skating facility was torn down to make way for the new Civic Center and parking lot.

The coalition has been working with city staff to identify possible locations for new skate parks. They researched 14 sites and narrowed the list down to two preferred parcels, which were presented to the council on Feb. 25.

Council members approved the two sites for further study.

“I’m excited to see that we have something tangible within our grasp because we are dreadfully behind the times in getting some skate parks,” said Councilwoman Amanda Rigby.

Oceanside opened its fifth skate park last summer at the corner of Alex and Foussat roads. The 22,700-square-foot park cost $1 million to build, most of it funded through state and foundation grants.

One of the Vista sites is an 11,900-square-foot vacant lot on North Santa Fe Avenue near East Connecticut Avenue. The other is a 10,600-square-foot lot on the northeast corner of Vista Village Drive and Palm Drive.

Both are city-owned properties located within the city’s redevelopment area and near low-income neighborhoods, which will make it easier for the city to apply for grants to design and build the park. An added feature is that those sites will bring recreational options to communities that need it most.

“They are really great locations,” Flaherty said. “It’s a good shot in the arm for the areas.”

Now that the city has picked the locations, the nonprofit coalition can start looking for grants to build them, Flaherty said.

City officials proposed building at least two skate parks, one for beginners and one for more advanced skaters. Separating the two levels of skaters is safer because there is less interaction between younger, less-experienced skaters and older ones, officials said.

Flaherty said the features in each park can also be built to better accommodate each level of skater.

In 2011, the council discussed three potential skate park sites at Brengle Terrace Park, Wildwood Park and the Monte Vista Detention Basin. Those sites were rejected in part due to opposition from neighbors.

Erubey Lopez, a city parks and recreation commissioner and an attorney who leases an office in a complex next to the North Santa Fe Avenue site, said he would welcome the park. He said the vacant lot is poorly maintained and that he himself has cut some of the weeds to make it look better.

“If you put a skate park there, we can make it look nice, really pretty,” Lopez said. “The people in that location would welcome it.”